A basestation may be coupled to another basestation or one or more user devices though a repeater. A conventional repeater accepts an incoming communication waveform and re-amplifies such incoming waveform as received. This type of repeater may be referred to as an “amplify-and-forward” repeater. Another type of repeater may digitize a received signal, process such received signal for amplification, and then re-amplify such signal for retransmission. However, conventionally such repeaters have processed all incoming signals without any deference with respect to the type of waveform received. However, there may be many types of wireless communication waveforms for a plurality of air interface protocols. Examples of waveform types include OFDM (such as for LTE or WiMax for example), spread spectrum (such as for WCDMA, TD-SCDMA or CDMA2000 for example), frequency hopping or static narrow band signals (such as for frequency hopping or static GSM, respectively, for example), or a combination thereof, among other types of waveforms or other air interface protocols. Thus, communication waveforms may have been retransmitted with such conventional repeaters without regard to type (“blind processing”) leading to a significantly diminished waveform than that originally transmitted by a basestation. Such “blind processing” of a signal may mean that one or more associated signal processing algorithms may not be used. As such such one or more algorithms may have a capability to improve power efficiency, such as of a power amplifier for example, and/or enhance quality or robustness of a communication link between a repeater/relay and a basestation, an inability to apply such one or more signal processing algorithms may in effect increase operational expenditures.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide a repeater that provides some differentiation with respect to a type of waveform received for pre-processing for retransmission to enhance quality of such retransmitted waveform.